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hail1

Pronunciation: /heɪl/
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Definition of hail

noun

[mass noun]
  • pellets of frozen rain which fall in showers from cumulonimbus clouds: rain and hail bounced on the tiled roof
  • [in singular] a large number of things hurled forcefully through the air:a hail of bullets

verb

[no object]
  • 1 (it hails, it is hailing, etc.) hail falls:it hailed so hard we had to stop
  • 2 [with adverbial of direction] (of a large number of objects) fall or be hurled forcefully:missiles and bombs hail down from the sky

Origin:

Old English hagol, hægl (noun), hagalian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hagel and German Hagel

hail in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of hail in the US English dictionary

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